AL-QAEDA

AND THE CONTEMPORARY TERRORIST PHENOMENON

Student: Tomescu Elena-Diana

Today's world is characterized by the competition between the various actors that are
evolving in the international arena, states and non-states. The current and foreseeable
international order for the future is the result of the manifestation of forces and the definition of
their tendencies in the configuration of the world's power relations to the phenomenon of
globalization with its positive as well as negative effects.
A special social phenomenon, terrorism has attained, at the beginning of the century and
the millennium, by its wide and varied forms of manifestation, a complex character extended to
the whole planet. Mankind is increasingly confronted with a multitude of terrorist actions of
unimaginable violence, spreading horror, deeply disturbing the normal life of society, defying
the domestic and international order of law, endangering the existence and functioning of
democracies, security national states and even world peace.
Terrorist organizations benefit from a number of advantages compared with even more
numerous military forces: surprise in action, an area of operations generally determined, a very
good knowledge of the operation area, one or more logistical bases within their operations area ,
often in very good conspiracy conditions and therefore difficult to spot and destroyed by the
police or military forces to which terrorist organizations oppose them; a simple and efficient
short-distance communications system, autonomy, or even independent independence, the
logistical needs being very low.
The contemporary terrorist phenomenon has become an expression of the change in the
nature of the armed conflicts, a new form of warfare resulting from the technological revolution,
the political, social and structural changes at state, regional and world level, respectively, from
the dynamics of the centers weight of power at international level.
Terrorism is not a spontaneous phenomenon, it has objective causes, so that the motivation
of the terrorist actions promoted by fundamentalist Islamic organizations must be sought in
distorting the specific precepts of this religion and putting them in opposition to the moral values
specific to the Western society whose principal representative is the United States.
Terrorism is mainly the most dangerous and harmful effect of power, in the sense that it is
legitimized by the most brutal force and its uselessness, since the only rule is the one dictated by
a terrorist, be it a individual, group or state .1
Terrorism does not appear simply, but it is born through injustice and inequality, but it
gives the weak to a great power of influence on some, even the strong ones.
Al-Qaeda is a multinational terrorist group that funds and organizes the activities of Islamic
militants around the world. Al-Qaeda's terrorism is particularly directed towards political
representatives in the sense of influence. The Al-Qaeda Group was set up around 1988 to create
a defense position against the Soviet Union.

The origins of the organization name. The name of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization,
founded by Osama bin Laden, comes from the qua'idah noun that in Arabic means foundation or
base and can easily refer to a military base; the article strengthens the idea of uniqueness, is used
to confer greater importance on a person, a mission, a building, etc.
In an interview in October 2001, journalist Tayseer Alouni, an employee of Arab Al-
Jazeera, the leader of the group explains the origins of the name given to his organization: The
name of Al-Qaeda was established without too much fast. I could say it was just a simple
decision. Abu Ebeida El-Banashi, was the one who dealt with the struggle for liberation from
Afghanistan, the establishment and organization of our camps in the territory; we used to call
these settlements qa'idar - camps. So the name is left.2
The name of the organization and details of its structure were provided by the testimony of
Jamal al-Fadl, one of the four men involved in the incident in South Africa. According to him,
during the war against the Soviets, bin Laden first founded another group called Mektab al
Khidemat led by Abdullah Azzam. Jamal al-Fadl said the al-Qaeda organization was set up
immediately after the end of the Afghanistan conflict and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The
establishment of this organization was a decision taken to ensure the continuity of Jihad.3

1
Virgil, Măgureanu , Power and Terrorism, vol. 1, no.1-2, University of Bucharest, 2003.
2
Brendan O'Neill, Does Al-Qaeda Exist ?, November 28, 2003 ;http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/
3
Sabrina Tavernise, New York – Manhattan: Trial of Lawyer is postponed again, The New York Times, 19 octombrie
2004, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.
 The base of this organization was established in Pakistan and provided training, financial
support, hiding places, Muslims crossing the border in Afghanistan to fight.
During the Soviet retreat, the organization was dispersed and then ceased to function as a
unit, and bin Laden wanted the immediate creation of a new group to continue the Holy Fight on
other fronts. Thus, an important meeting took place in Khost, Afghanistan, among the main
mujahedin and allegedly participated in by Jamal al-Fadl. The meeting took place in the late
1990s.
In April 2002, the group has finalized its Qa'idat al-Jihad name, which can be translated as
the basis of Jihad. According to Egyptian political analyst Diaa Rashwan, this was due to the
merging and, implicitly, expansion of Al-Qaeda abroad, with the Al-Jihad Egyptian group led by
Ayman al Zawahiri in the mid-90s.4

The main objective of the terrorist organization. The main objective of the organization is
to overthrow the governments of Muslim states - considered to be corrupt and heretical - and to
replace them with Islamic governments respecting Sharia. Al-Qaeda has a profoundly anti-
Western attitude, perceiving the United States as the greatest enemy of Islam. Al-Qaeda is a
network of several fundamentalist organizations from different countries. The common factor of
all these groups is the use of acts of terrorism to achieve political ends. The organization has as a
priority the overthrow of heretical governments and the creation of governments to rule on the
basis of Islamic law.

The establishment of Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda group was born during the war in
Afghanistan, and its main members were veterans of this war. His leader was Osama bin Laden,
a Saudi millionaire who began his career as a fighter in Afghanistan. He transferred his business
from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan, bringing here hundreds of loyal workers and heavy
construction machinery, triggering actions aimed at liberating the territory from unbelieving
invaders. Realizing that the Afghans lacked the means of infrastructure and the forces needed to
fight in a long-standing conflict, he was primarily concerned with solving these problems. The
first step was the creation of a well-organized program of enrollers. Together with Abdallah

4
Diaa Rashwan, The Age of Maturity, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, March 22, 2001, no. 526;
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/
Azzam, the Palestinian leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, he organized a recruitment office -
Maktab al-Khidamat (M.A.K. - Bureau of Services).
M.A.K. has launched to young Muslims across the Arab world the call to come to fight in
Afghanistan and has created branches around the world including the United States and Europe.
Bin Laden covered travel expenses in Afghanistan for new recruits and created camps for their
training. The Afghan government has provided land and resources, and bin Laden has brought
experts from around the world into guerrilla warfare, sabotage and undercover operations. In less
than a year, thousands of volunteers trained in their private military camps. It is estimated that
about 10,000 fighters have attended training courses and gained combat experience in
Afghanistan. Of these, only a tenth came from the ranks of Afghan citizens. Nearly half of them
were from Saudi Arabia. Others came from Algeria (about 3,000) and Egypt (2,000). They were
joined by a few other thousand, who came from countries like Yemen, Pakistan and Sudan.

The development of the organization. After the war, Bin Laden set out a plan to expand the
fight outside Afghanistan by creating a new organization, Al-Qaida (the Base"), to reunite all
Muslims. The purpose of this organization was to remove the governments considered corrupt
from all Islamic countries and to eliminate all Western influences in these countries.
In Al-Qaida's strategy of action, terrorism is the main component. By acting as an umbrella
association, Al-Qaida has ramifications in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia and training
camps in Afghanistan. Those who completed training sessions in these camps were deployed in
various hot zones of the world, where they were preserved to be used to support the actions of
Islamic extremist groups.
In the late 1980s, bin Laden split from Azzam, co-founder of the M.A.K. While Azzam
continued to support Muslims in Afghanistan, bin Laden turned his attention to other countries.
At the end of 1989, Abdallah Azzam died in the explosion of a car-trap, an attack on a rival
Afghan faction. At that time, rumors were rumored that bin Laden was behind the assassination.
After the victory in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to fight the
country's unbelieving government. The Saudis, who were not willing to tolerate his calls to
insurrection, reacted quickly against him. In April 1994, Saudi citizenship was revoked on
charges of irresponsible behavior. Subsequently, he was expelled from the country. Together
with his family and a large number of followers, bin Laden moved to Khartoum in Sudan. There
he set up factories and farms, some of which were created just to provide mujahedin jobs. He
built roads and infrastructure elements for the Sudanese government and training camps for
Afghan veterans. Among his numerous businesses in Sudan, there was a goat processing factory,
a construction company, a bank, a sunflower plantation and an import-export company.
For many years, bin Laden lived in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. During this time, he
helped many Afghan veterans come to Sudan. It is said that bin Laden was a close friend of
Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir and Hassan Turabi, the leader of the Islamic National Front. in
Sudan. However, Sudan - which has long been on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism -
has begun to mitigate its opposition to the United States and the West. As a gesture of goodwill
in this regard, the Sudanese government has asked bin Laden to leave Sudan.
In May 1996, he moved to Afghanistan, leaving a network of Afghan veterans and
numerous profitable factories and corporations in Sudan. A large number of major factories in
Sudan are linked to its name and were suspected of playing double, providing logistical support
to bin Laden's network.
In February 1998, bin Laden announced the creation of a new organization called the
Islamic International Front for the Fight against the Jews and the Crusades (Al-Jabhah al-
Islamiyyah al-Alamiyyah li-Qital al-Yahud wal-Salibiyyin) many groups, including Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya, Egyptian Jihad, Pakistan's Perceptions Association, Kashmir Partisans Movement,
Bangladesh Jihad Movement, and Afghan Military Wing of the Reform and Counseling
Commission headed by bin Laden. Front-founder members include, besides bin Laden, Dr.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of the Egyptian Jihad, Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, leader Al-Gama'a al-
Islamiyya and other movement leaders listed above .
Bin Laden justified the creation of an anti-American and anti-Israeli front in the fact that
these countries caused suffering to Muslims around the world. He said Muslims must start the
holy war against their true enemies, not only by overthrowing unpopular regimes backed by
Americans and Israelis, but also by defending their own faith.

The American offensive. On August 20, 1998, the US Army hit a series of targets related to
bin Laden's network. Among them were six Al-Qaida training camps and a Sudan drug factory,
about which there was information to produce components used to manufacture chemical
weapons.
 Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, which Osama
bin Laden and his organization are believed to be guilty of, the attention of US authorities has
focused on the states of eastern and southern Africa because they have lately offered them
hosting bin Laden or were the scene of terrorist attacks clearly attributed to Al Qaeda.
Anticipating an anti-terrorist offensive led by the United States in Afghanistan in the
immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Al-Qaeda leadership has created new operational
centers of the organization in other Islamic states, such as Iran, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and
Tunisia.
Since 1996, bin Laden has been the target of investigations by a New York Federal Grand
Jury. Following the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States have
launched a campaign to stop terrorism. This campaign began with the attack of Afghanistan, the
destruction of Al-Qaeda training camps and the capture of Osama bin Laden. The Afghanistan
campaign has resulted in the destruction of most of Al-Qaeda's infrastructure and the removal of
the Taliban regim.

Osama bin Laden and his involvement in the development and actions of the organization.
Osama bin Laden - Usama bin Muhammad bin Laden known as Sheik Usama bin Laden, Prince
Emir Abu Abdallah Sheik Mujahid Hajj Director was born in 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
being his seventeenth son Mohammad Bin Laden. His father came from a simple peasant, one of
the most well-known and wealthy builders and entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. Osama bin
Laden's mother was Palestinian and was the most favored of his father's ten wives, and he was
his favorite.
When his family's construction firm began to rebuild mosques from the sacred towns of
Mecca and Medina, in 1973, bin Laden made a religious passion for Islam; has since then begun
to preach about the necessity of armed intervention to free the oppressed and the need for
monotheism to exist throughout the world; associating with a seminal Islamic fundamentalist
group that shared his conception. But his true obsession began in 1979, when the Soviet Union
invaded Muslim Afghanistan. His vision of the world - a continuing struggle between Islam and
the West - led him to join the mujajedin in Pakistan only a few days after the invasion.
In the early 1980s, he returned home to fund, recruit, transport and train a volunteer force of
Muslims coming from around the world, the Islamic Salvation Front (ISF) force to fight
alongside Afghan mujahedines.
 Bin Laden was co-founder of the Mujahedin Service Bureau - Maktab al-Kidamar, then
transforming him into an international Al-Qaeda network that recruited Islamic fundamentalists
with special training; including engineers, doctors, terrorists and drug dealers.
After the dissolution of ISF, following the end of the Afghanistan conflict in 1989, Osama
bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia. From here, he began to mingle with statements and then
with assaults in the policy of other Muslim states; such as Iraq, through a series of incendiary
statements importing Saddam Hussein.
The Kuwait American invasion of August 2, 1990, caused new reactions from the Al-
Qaeda leader: he advised the Saudi government not to compromise Islamic legitimacy by
inviting the loyal Americans to Saudi Arabia. At first he was ignored and then forced to move
with his family to Sudan in 1991. Between 1992 and 1996, bin Laden built mujahedin training
camps. Also, while in Sudan, he has set up a funding system to support terrorist activities around
the world. In 1992, Osama turned his attention to Egypt trying to bomb the US military base in
Yemen; and in 1993 attacked Somalia. Three years later, expelled from his (1994) Saudi
citizenship, he moved to Afghanistan. Here he built a military fortress near Kandahar under the
protection of the Afghan government. From there, bin Laden continued to fund his training
camps and military activities. In the Manhattan trial, in 2001, one of the defendants, Mohammad
Odeh, confessed that there were Al Qaeda bases in Somalia as well. Those who opposed the
presence of US troops in the territory were prepared and funded by bin Laden.Another evidence
of the Emir's involvement in the incidents in Somalia is a letter, written in 1997 by Haroud Fazil,
Al-Qaeda member of the Kenyan cell. The letter was addressed to the leadership of Al-Qeda and
has the character of a report: America knows very well that the youth working in Somalia and
who are the followers of Seicu (bin Laden's) are the ones who organized the attacks against the
Americans there.5
Since 1998, the scene has been prepared for the most spectacular terrorist attacks set up by
bin Laden, and one of these has been the almost simultaneous bombardment of American
amabasades in Tanzania and Kenya. Al-Qaeda members called the attack in Kenya the Holy
Kaaba operation (after the Mecca altar, considered the most holy place of the Muslim world); the

5
Jean-Francoise Seznec, Interview-Crossroads in Us-Sudi relations, October 8, 2004 http://wwww.saudi-us-
relations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-interests
Tanzanian bombing was named code al-Aqsa, after the mosque in Jerusalem, which is the third
holy place of Islam.
On May 28, 1998, three months before the attacks, Emir gave an interview to ABC News
in Afghanistan asking all Americans to be killed: We do not make a difference between those
who wear military and civilian uniforms; are all targets for us.6 And the attack on September 11,
2001, has demonstrated this. Bin Laden was in war with the United States and his war was a
political one, justified by his vision of Islam, directed against the symbols of American political
and economic power institutions. He attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The tragedy of
the World Trade Center was provoked by bin Laden and to give rise to a conflict between
civilizations. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, in 2001, one month after the attacks in the US, bin
Laden confessed: The Islamic Nation responded to the appeal. If our instigations and attacks on
Americans are considered crimes, then let our instincts judge us whether we are criminals or
not. It is our duty to respond the same. The law allows us to do so [...] Towers represented
political power. They are not elementary schools. Those who worked there were the greatest
economic power of the world. They will have to rewrite their books. We'll do the same as they
do. [...] Any form of terrorism must not be cursed; there is blessed terrorism. America and Israel
are really strong terrorists. We practice holy terror.7

The structure of the organization during Osama bin Laden. During Osama bin Laden, Al-
Qaeda was organized on two levels: a vertical one with bin Laden, the general emir, on the
highest pyramid, and another horizontal, consisting of 24 armed groups. The vertical chart was
formal and the horizontal was informal. On the scale of the hierarchy he followed Emir, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, his chief counselor, founding member of the organization. He was respected and
admired within the group not only for his erudition and physician profession, but also for his
famous career as a leader of the Egyptian terrorist group Islamic Jihad. Bin Laden depended
directly on Shura Maylis or the Consultant Board - a council receiving direct reports from four
committees: religious, economic, military, and communications. This council devised, discussed
and approached the most important political plans and set in motion the terrorist operations; as
well as the texts of proclamations and communications. The members of these committees were

6
Peter L. Bergen, The Longest War : The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda, New York, Free Press,
2011, p. 115.
7
Tayseer Alount, Transcript of Bin Laden’s october interview, February 5, 2002,
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/.
chosen by bin Laden personally and executed only the orders received from the general emir and
the operative commanders.
Representative committees
1. The Religious Commission - the one dealing with preaching and spreading the Al-Qaeda
Islamic extremist model, as well as legal issues, answering the justification of the actions of the
group;
2. The Economic Commission - Finance Committee, administer the group's corporate
heritage, including a travel agency and several other companies: Taba Investments dealt with
foreign exchange transactions; another company of bin Laden was engaged in the import and
export of necessary goods; Thermar-al-Birbaraka owned and operated farms throughout the
Middle East, producing sesame, white corn; Al Hijra was involved in the most important
construction projects in the Middle East.
3. The Military Commission - it was the one that ensured the recruitment and training of
combatants; provided instructors, weapons, and all the resources necessary for Commandos
scattered around the world.

The fundamental principles of functioning of the organization

According to Al-Qaeda's Jihad maneuver8, titled Jihad's Declaration Against Tyrant
Countries, found on May 10, 2001, in the apartment of Al-Qaeda Nazir of Wdih Raghie,
Manchester, UK, and then translated into English and used as an accusatory test in the
Manhattan trial in 2001, the military organization of the group was based on three fundamental
principles9 without which it could not function. The first principle was that of the Military
Command - it must constantly oversee and report on the recruitment training status, the security
of the chosen locations for the attacks, the military procedures, the adopted strategies, the
construction of the bombs, their location, the choice of the most wanted jihadists, etc. The
second was the choice of individual members, soldiers. The recruits were made from around the
world and certain standards had to be respected, such as their past, which had to be very
carefully reversed, as well as the past of their families. A true fighter had to fully understand this
Holy War of the group. He had to be capable of the supreme sacrifice - of martyrdom. And the
third principle was the exact definition of a strategy. For the first time, information about

8
The Al Qaeda Manual, http://cryptome.org/alq-terr-man.htm
9
http://www.justice.gov/ag/manualpart1_1.pdf
enemies, about the place of the attack, the surrounding installations (water, electricity, etc.) and
the detailed study of the neighboring buildings had to be gathered. The necessary data had to be
fraudulently stolen if they could not be obtained in normal ways.

The terrorist profile as a member of Al-Qaeda10

The terrorist assailant has a special personality that allows him to physically and mentally
resist the difficult conditions of training and training, to accept the privatization and to deal with
the critical situations that occurred during the assassination. Definitions for his profile are:
character, self-mastery, tenacity and cruelty; the assailants are generally capable of coping with
risk and aggression factors. In committing bombings, they demonstrate psycho-physiological
strength and energy, physical and psychic vigor skills, tenacity and ability to overcome obstacles.
These traits are developed and enhanced by specific training and training, and by the process of
ideological-religious indoctrination, which aims at the fanaticism of the terrorist, his total gain of
the cause of the group, associated with his resistance to any kind of moral, emotional or logical
pressure. Fanaticism, cruelty and the spirit of sacrifice seem to characterize, by way of
excellence, Muslim terrorist attacks.
The extremist approach of the group is based on the belief that the goal - removing the
frustrating disfavoring causes - can not be achieved legally. This goal is of absolute value, which
is why membership in the terrorist group gives the member superior value, self-importance and
self-esteem, association with the image of the rescue hero, at the same time with a certain degree
of depersonalization, which makes it possible to face all risks.
Every member involved must fully respect his / her tasks. Before distributing these tasks he must
be tested. Incompetence and half-life of fear for one's own life or the feeling of mercy must not
exist.
An essential condition is that these soldiers are Muslims. An unbeliever (a Jew, a Christian)
can not understand the purposes of Islam and the supreme duty of any Muslim.
Discipline is also essential. It reflects the fact that a member respects the orders given to him
by the commanders. Muslim religion imposes strict discipline according to Allah's words: Peace

10
Marc Sageman, Psychology and Sociology of Jihad Actors, Denoël 2005.
you believe! Listen to Allah's word and listen to this messenger in all. For those who believe and
respect Allah will open the Gates.11

Direct and indirect impacts of terrorist and insurgent groups in psychosocial, economic
and political terms
Being the major threats to human society democracy of world states, international terrorism
continues to be, the beginning of this century, a particularly serious threat, both for structure and
social cohesion and for the security of states.
Terrorist actions have a specific peculiarity to other types of violent events: they do not
distinguish between officials and ordinary citizens. Most of the time, these actions have a
devastating impact on a large public area. Many of the attacks are caused to cause human and
material damage, but also to attract public attention and to promote the destructive image of
those who produce them.
Clandestinity, violence, group or individual actions, typically suicide bombers, as well as
globalization, are some of the features of the contemporary terrorist phenomenon that causes
great difficulties in successfully fighting this scourge.
In the psychosocial plan, the terrorist threat has the immediate effect of diminishing social
cohesion and national consensus and not only affecting the climate of society and inter-human
relations. These are due to: the instability of fears generated by the possibility of terrorist acts
within the national territory within the population; diminishing citizens' confidence in the
capacity of law enforcement agencies with security competencies to prevent and effectively
combat terrorist acts against individuals, political and military personalities, social groups in one
country or another; psychosis created within the population, often due to information
disseminated by the media about terrorist attacks committed in some countries but generating
emotional states such as suspicion, distrust, fear and alienation, and within populations in other
countries, given the possibility of acts, attacks, and other terrorist acts in their community. All
these psycho-social changes affect both national security and national security. Directly, national
security is attained by these feelings and emotional states, by diminishing the collective and

11
The Al Qaeda Manual http://cryptome.org/alq-terr-man.htm.
individual morale of both those working in organizational structures with security tasks and large
categories of citizens, potentially targets of terrorist acts.
Economically, terrorist danger is perceived as a significant resource generator of material
and financial resources to ensure and guarantee national security. Thus, the terrorist threat makes
state institutions with security competencies be in a permanent alert state, monitor any physical
or virtual movement of international terrorists, consume material resources to ensure a
permanent watch service and prompt intervention whenever necessary to keep an important
resource human.
On the political level, terrorism has brought about a series of changes that, by nature,
content and forms of manifestation are also found in the field of national security. After
September 11, 2001, many countries take part in what was called the war on international
terrorism. In this context, the International Military Coalition for Combating Terrorism has been
established, which has brought together military structures from different countries and triggered
the war in Iraq under the aegis of the United Nations in 2003. At the same time, each democratic
state has not only reorganized its armed forces to enable them to fight the fight against
international terrorism. The terrorist phenomenon makes the military dimension of national
security acquire new valences and capabilities to fight international terrorism.

Conclusions
In recent years, terrorist actions have seen a worrying scale across the world. Terrorist
groups have diversified both their violent action methods and the targets of these actions.
Terrorist attacks are hard to anticipate and prevent. In order to monitor terrorist activity,
especially in the phases of the preparedness of the attacks, very close cooperation between the
security agencies of each state and between states is necessary. Often, information received from
citizens themselves helps identify possible terrorist preparatory actions.
The terrorist phenomenon has become a dramatic reality of this century beginning. Daily,
extremist-terrorist actions bring people, many of them children, women and the elderly, the sense
of fear and insecurity. Present as a form of manifestation from remote times, terrorism exerts its
evil power through acts of cruelty, kidnappings, assassinations, executions or other forms of
blind violence such as arson, sabotage, bombing in public places, etc. In the face of amplification
of the terrorist threat, the establishment of specialized anti-terrorist units has become a major
concern throughout the world.
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The Al Qaeda Manual http://cryptome.org/alq-terr-man.htm.

http://www.justice.gov/ag/manualpart1_1.pdf